Fox News host Eboni Williams is reportedly receiving death threats after she blasted Trump for his “both sides” remarks about the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. Apparently, Williams’ long record of pandering to Trump supporters on the air has not inoculated her from their intolerant rage.

Williams, an African American, said this during her commentary segment of The Fox News Specialists on Monday:

WILLIAMS: Mr. President, your initial remarks were cowardly and dangerous, and they indeed warranted a second statement. Here’s why. Your presidential campaign slogan, "Make America great again," well, it rose many questions for many: Were Jews, blacks, gays, and Hispanics included in the return of America to her great glory years, or would some of us be left out? Well, I was legitimately unsure. But absent more conclusive evidence, I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I can no longer do that, Mr. President. No more benefit. All doubt.

Actually, Williams did more than give Trump the benefit of the doubt. In March, 2016, when Trump was in hot water for not disavowing David Duke’s support, Williams declared that she did not think Trump a racist “because I understand what an actual racist is.” This was after an abundance of evidence about Trump otherwise: His long run of bogus birtherism, his infamous comments about Mexican immigrants and a decades-long record of other racist remarks and behavior. During the presidential campaign, she also appeared on the Hannity show as an ostensible liberal who attacked Hillary Clinton and gushed over Trump.

But OK, better late than never.

WILLIAMS: In a moment where you could have been crystal clear where you stand on the issue of inclusion, standing up against white supremacy and domestic terrorism, you very intentionally chose to be ambiguous and to equivocate. All sides, Mr. President? Please. President Trump, I do not know your heart, but what I do know for sure is that you’ve clearly done the math. You’ve decided that your portion of the base that is absolutely racist is so significant, so valuable that you hesitate, even in the face of blatant, flagrant hatred to risk turning them off, and thereby crippling your political stronghold.

↓ Story continues below ↓

[…] So while you personally might not be a racist President Trump, what you are is all too happy to reap the benefits of their support, and you even tacitly encourage them with evasive, irresponsible statements.

Williams even threw a bone to her conservative viewers with a gratuitous, racial attack on President Barack Obama.

WILLIAMS: But I know, I know. But what about Black Lives Matter? What about Obama?

Well, guess what? Obama had a lot of missed opportunities to effectively lead a national dialogue around race in America, and his legacy will carry those shortcomings, but he is no longer in the Oval.

Williams continued by resuming her criticisms of Trump.

WILLIAMS: This moment is on you, President Trump. This is your legacy in the making. Mr. President, I am making a personal plea to you. You are actually uniquely positioned to forcefully call out evil, anti-American domestic terrorists, but we certainly cannot change what we fail to acknowledge. So I’m asking you to address their anger, address their misplaced fears, let them know that this is America, land of opportunity and there is indeed enough to go around. President Trump, they will listen to you, and they will follow your lead.

Obviously, I’m no fan of Williams. But nobody deserves threats. After an interview yesterday, Variety reported that she received more than 150 emails in response, “only three of which were anything other than ‘seething, scathing’ takedowns.”

“I should meet my maker soon, I shouldn’t be allowed to walk the streets of New York,” she cited as some examples of the type of comments she received. “They heard that I live in Harlem — Harlem needs to watch out.” Her book publisher became so concerned that he asked her to request additional security from Fox News, which she did — Williams is now escorted to and from the building when she arrives to work.

[…] Williams explained that the typical responses she gets from Fox News viewers, while sometimes disagreeing with her views, often praise her ability to formulate her arguments and present them on-air, which is what makes this week’s digression so shocking for her.

I’d like to think that Williams will be a little more concerned about some of the dogs she lies down with on Fox now that she has gotten some of the fleas. After all, while Williams was fortunate enough to have security provided her by her employer, there are plentyofpeople Fox has deliberately scapegoated who were not - including Dr. George Tiller who was actually assassinated after years of being attacked on Fox by Bill O’Reilly. Let's not forget that Williams' permanent cohost, Eric Bolling, is currently suspended after multiple, persuasive reports that he sexually harassed numerous coworkers.

Meanwhile, watch Williams do a nice job of calling out Trump over Charlottesville above, from the August 14, 2017 The Fox News Specialists. To be fair, she wasn't bad with Nugent, either, if you can get past the fact that he was presented as a "specialist" on race and racism in the first place.

Comments

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service (revised 3/17/2016) for information on our posting policy.